How To Catch His Attention
by Blossom cat
Summary: Lucy knows three main ways to catch Natsu's attention when he ignores her. Natsu doesn't understand why she does it they way she does, but it frustrates him that she can even gain his attention like that in the first place. One-shot


**I was really in the mood to write, but i just couldn't think of any idea on what to do. While scrolling around through my phone, this idea just came to mind. I don't know how well I'll be able to convert this idea into a good fanfiction but I'll do my best. I really hope this story is enjoyable!**

 **Disclaimer- I don't own Fairy Tail or it's characters**

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He slowly started to notice different things about the celestial mage, but more how she would get his attention. He decided that he liked it, she would only do these certain things with him. He felt smug in knowing that he could bring out a side in her that no one else could. He set down his glass while sitting at the bar. Lucy wasn't here yet.

She was almost always confident in herself. Be it her appearance, her outfit, or her skill. She was rarely shy at all around people, always wanted to become friends with others. Even if they pushed her away or acted awkward. So no, he wouldn't call her a shy type, she was especially unshy when she got angry. She would stomp around and scream at him to get out of her bed or to leave her apartment. She would hit and kick him.

Now, being embarrassed was a different thing. You can be shy while embarrassed but she usually turned to shock or anger when she got embarrassed, almost never was she shy when embarrassed. That's what he thought only until recently, that is. Lately, when she wanted to get his attention she would act shy. It surprised him. There were three ways she got his attention, two out of those three we're her shy side.

 _The first way was tugging on his sleeve_

He noticed this one while sitting on this exact stool about a month ago. She kept doing it since. He was in the middle of eating, when he ate he was anything but focused on the outside world. All he was focused on was the food he was scarfing down. If he was distracted, he wouldn't be able to savor the taste. Mira was the best cook in the world, beside Lucy of course.

Lucy had found a job while he ate. He didn't even realize she was here- he probably wasn't listening since he had a plate of food in front of him. He just nodded anyway and let her scurry away to the job board. She must of not taken that long because once she left, she was already back. He hadn't paid any mind.

"Hey Natsu! I have a job for us. It's about- hey, are you even listening?" She interrupted herself with a frown. He ignored her of course, his mouth was full. He couldn't say anything even if he wanted to. He saw from the corner of her eye at how she huffed and looked away from him. What he didn't notice was the pretty obvious blush staining her cheeks. She suddenly curled into herself and held out her hand.

He then felt a tug on his long sleeve. For the first time in a long time, he stopped eating as he no longer felt an appetite. He blinked and gulped the rest of his food down. He looked at her in shock and studied her expression. She had her index finger and her thumb pressed together on part of his sleeve, trapping the fabric between said fingers. She looked away from him towards the bar counter. She found the glass of water sitting on top very appealing as she gazed at it.

Her face was shy and nervous looking. She never even looked this way during a battle which was why he was so astonished. He was sure her face was going to explode it was so red. He never saw her this way, where was Lucy and what did this chick do with her?

"N-Natsu, will you listen to me? I said I found a job..." She said softly. It was so quiet, if he didn't have dragon slayer hearing, he probably wouldn't have heard a word she said. He saw how she bit her lip, making half of the bottom stick out unnaturally. For some reason, he couldn't take his eyes off of those lips. He shook his head and shifted his eyes to her right hand, the one that clipped his sleeve. She had only a small portion of the ends, her grip was soft but firm. She tugged on it again.

"U-Uh yeah! Sorry I was eating before. Just let me get Happy." He stuttered. She smiled lightly and nodded.

"Okay, let me go get some things from my apartment. You meet me there, 'kay?" He grunted and watched her leave. All smiles like what they had just had never happened. She went from shy and vulnerable to bright and happy. All in the time span of a second. He pushed the rest of his food away, still confused by what had happened. Not only had he seen a different side of her, he liked it.

He liked watching her get shy and flustered around him. He had no idea why. He watched as Mira came over and hovered over his place in awe.

"Natsu! You didn't finish your meal? Are you okay?" She gave him a worried glance and she lifted her hand to his forehead. "Well, you're not sick." She mumbled to herself. He just pulled back and started to pout.

"Just not hungry anymore is all..." He trailed off. She looked at the half eaten steak then back up to him. She heard a gasp.

"Natsu, your face... it's red," he tensed and finally noticed the heat that managed to crawl its way on his face. "Are you blushing? Oh my! This is the first time since hanging out with Lisanna that you've blushed. What happened?" He just leaned his cheek on his hand, his elbow pressing into the counter.

"None of your business..." He expected her to look surprised or even angry, not smug." She leaned forward in excitement and giggled as he reeled back with a suspicious glare.

"Oh my, you're in deep aren't you? Who's the lucky lady? Oh Mavis, it's Lucy isn't it?" She stood tall and squealed, gaining the attention of every member if the guild. Natsu felt like Lucy now, shushing Mira violently and looking around at everyone.

"Mira would you shut up! It isn't like that!"

"Not by your expression. C'mon Natsu, just tell me what happened. I won't tell a soul." He sat back down and crossed his arms. Looking in deep thought, he finally spoke up.

"She was just acting weird is all. Tugging on my sleeve and looking shy, asking me to listen when telling me about a job. I don't know what was going on with her but it made me feel really weird. I think Lucy is rubbing off on me." Mira stopped giggling and placed a hand on her cheek in thought.

She hummed when she said thought of a possible reason. "Well it is a way to get your attention. She was probably embarrassed and shy that she had to tug on your sleeve in the first place, she's always embarrassed around you." He darted his eyes away from Mira with a puff. That was a lie- Lucy was hardly embarrassed around him. She just kicked him.

"Doubt it." He scoffed. She put her hands on her hips and mumbled something about him being oblivous.

"Of course you never see it. I guess she was just extra shy this time. I guess props to her. With that move, she'll get you to pay attention to whatever she says. She'll even get you to lose your appetite over it." He grumbled.

Sure, this one time Lucy got to him. He won't let it happen next time.

 _The second way was tugging on his scarf_

She must have a thing for pulling on his clothes. This time was while they were on a mission. A different one from the time before. He had just finished up beating a group of small fry. He felt the scales that formed on the side of his face subside. He thought he wouldn't even need to go into dragon force

But one of those men acted unforgivable. He remembered the way that guy- the fucking nerve -was so excited to be going up against Lucy. Natsu just thought it was because the man thought Lucy was weak and that he wouldn't have a tough time. Of course the guy would be wrong, Lucy was a hell of a lot stronger than she looked.

Natsu realized that the man's intentions weren't strictly battle field. They were anything but pure. He would gaze at Lucy inappropriately the whole time, angering Natsu. Looking at her bust or her ass and even tried to cope a feel. Luckily, Lucy had dodged. He didn't think Lucy noticed that small fry's ultimate motives, which made him angrier. She just kept on fighting.

He decided to beat his enimies quickly and make his way to Lucy. He punched the men in the face and knocked them out. He then felt his dragon force kick in as he stocked up behind the bandit. Lucy stopped sparring with him and looked at Natsu in confusion. Natsu grabbed the man by the back of the neck, much to Lucy's protest, and slammed him into the other men getting up.

He made sure the man Lucy was fighting got hurt extra bad, he was pretty sure he heard some of his bones crack a few times as he beat on him. Lucy just held back and let happy wiggle his way into her arms. He knew Lucy would be angry but he couldn't let her fight that guy any longer. If he had waited any longer, he didn't think he'd leave the guy alive.

Then Lucy would never forgive him. He'd take her being mad for a few hours vs the rest of his life any day. Once he was finished he stood and wiped his cheek. Instead of the smile he wore when he finished a battle, he just sneered. He was angry.

"Natsu!" He heard faint footsteps of his blonde friend but he just couldn't focus on her right now. He only glared down at that man. His face was swollen and purple while he lost a few teeth. Natsu could tell he broke some of the guy's bones. His arms and nose was the most definitive breaks. He heard her call his name again but he didn't turn around.

He felt her tug on his scarf from behind him. It pulled on his neck, that's how he figured it out. He knew it was her without even turning around as he could smell her delicious scent and where he felt her pull. She was about a head shorter than him so it could only be her pulling at the ends of his scarf.

He noticed he felt himself finally give her his attention. He cursed to himself, he thought he'd never get himself caught in her traps so easily again. He turned around, forcing her to let go. He found that her expression was exactly as before. She bit her bottom lip, looking away from him with a red face. He realized that was her shy look. The look no one saw but himself.

"Yeah Luce?" And just like that, her shyness disappeared and was replaced with anger. He braced himself for the worst.

"Why would you take that guy away from our fight? I was about to beat him!"

"He was trying to touch your ass! Would you want that instead?" He crossed his arms over his chest and tapped his foot impatiently as she pulled back from his figure. She stayed quiet and pouted and eventually sighed.

"I'm too tired for this. I appreciate you looking out for me anyhow but I can deal with it. I'm not incompetent you know." Even as she was scolding him, she smiled his way. He just grinned anyway.

"I'll always look out for you, Lucy. It's my job as your partner." Patting her back they made it back to happy at the sidelines.

"You guys done already? I want to get back to the guild already." They nodded at Happy's complaint and grabbed the tied up men, making it back to their client to turn these men in.

 _The thrid and final way was how she would smile and pat her lap, as if she was calling a dog_

She doesn't do this one often, but enough he could add it to the list. She did this whenever she wanted his attention, but she was never shy about it. Probably because she didn't have to touch him at all to do it.

He was busy fighting Gray. He was pissed that Gray had insulted his hair color, he said that it made him look like a pansy. This obviously made Natsu angry and provoked a fight out of him. He knew Lucy was talking with Levy, something that had to do with Lucy's novel. The one she still didn't allow him to read.

"Pay attention, hot breath!" Gray went in to punch him but Natsu dodged just in time, ducking and punching under his jaw. He saw Lucy wave Levy goodbye and she watched her head back to the brooding Gajeel, he was most likely lonely. It made Natsu snicker.

That's when he heard a faint smack. Lucy had a small smile on her face and she pat her lap, signalling that she wanted him to come to her and keep her company. He remembered a time asking her why she did that and she said it was habit of sorta that she gained.

She used to call out different animals when she would play outside as a child. Patting her thighs always calmed down those animals and they would trot their way over to her. She was some kind of animal whisperer. Every time she pat her legs, Happy would sit on her lap, Carla would tell Wendy to sit closer to them and pantherlilly would keep an eye on her.

It was something new he learned about Lucy. She never ceases to amaze him. He even noticed a change in himself and other slayers in the building when she did that. He guessed because of the dragon behavior inside of them that they felt drawn to her when she did that.

He was the only one that actually went to her. Gajeel, Wendy, and surprisingly Laxus when he was around, would just look at her for long periods of time before going back to whatever they were doing. He gave Gray one final punch and ran to Lucy. He heard as Happy purred in her lap and he sat next to Lucy. Making sure he was so close that their thighs touched. She didn't seem to mind.

"Ya called, Luce?" She smiled up at him.

"Yeah, sorry if you were busy. I just wanted a little bit of company since Levy left." She leaned her head against his arm, making him wrap him arm around her waist and pull her closer.

"It's no big deal, i don't mind!" She just giggled quietly. Gray had glared at Natsu and mumbled something about him being a coward. Gray had gotten up and sat with Juvia and Erza, who were chatting about nothing in particular.

...

These were just the biggest ways at catching his attention. She did certain things that could make him glance her way from a mile away. She was just so different from everyone else. Unfortunately, he wasn't as dense as everyone believed him to be. He knew what these feelings means. He sighed and laid his head on the bar counter.

"Hey Natsu, I'm broke so let's go on a job!" Her voice immediately caught his attention. She ran up to him and sat next to him. She waved over Mira and asked for a milkshake. "I'm sorry I slept in. I didn't think I'd stay up that late." She frowned slightly and continued but softened her voice. "Where were you anyway?"

His eyes widened and he blinked for a moment. He was so tired last night that he just went home with Happy. He didn't even bother to crawl in Lucy's bed. He thought of what to say for a moment. He was just in a lot of shock.

"Uh, i dunno. Guess I didn't get around to it." She looked away with mild disappointment. These times always had him entranced with only her. The way she could make him feel guilty without even doing anything wrong was really annoying. But he just couldn't get mad at her for it.

"I just couldn't sleep. I was so cold without you and I know that sounds weird and clingy, but it's true." He smiled, happy he could get her to feel a certain way. He smiled and nudged her while she sipped her milkshake shyly.

"Heh, it's fine. I know that you just want some of my attention." He smirked. She stopped drinking her shake and looked at him as if she had gotten caught doing something she shouldn't have. The look disappeared as soon as it appeared.

"Keh! As if!"

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 **I'm not sure if it turned out well. I like the idea, but it was harder than i thought to write a story out of it.**


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